“If Hezbollah violates the agreement and tries to rearm, we will attack. If you try to rebuild terrorist infrastructure near the border, we will attack. If he fires a rocket, if he digs a tunnel, if he brings a truck with missiles, we will attack. “We will respond to any violation with force.”he promised Netanyahu in a televised speech.
“A good agreement is one that is fulfilled, and we will enforce it,” he continued.
The security cabinet met for several hours and Netanyahu announced that he voted in favor of the compromise cease-fire what was proposed by the United States.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery, in Jerusalem, on October 27, 2024. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP)
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Netanyahu attacked critics of the agreement who maintain that Israel will not be able to fight again Hezbollah after agreeing to a ceasefire. He said that they stated the same thing before the agreement Week-long hostage exchange in Gaza agreed last year with Hamas.
In that sense, the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvirdescribed the agreement as cease-fire as ““a historical error”but did not state whether his party will withdraw from the government coalition.
In the hours before the Cabinet meeting, Israel carried out its most intense wave of attacks in Beirut and its southern suburbs and issued a record number of evacuation warnings. At least 24 people died across the country, according to local authorities.
View of the Dahieh district, south of Beirut, after an Israeli air attack this Tuesday, November 26, 2024. (EFE/ Wael Hamzeh).
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He israeli prime minister He listed three reasons for accepting the ceasefire: the first is to focus on the Iranian threat. The second is to allow troops to rest and weapons depots to be replenished, in reference to the administration of US President Joe Biden, which slowed down the delivery of material, and to his future replacement in the White House Donald Trump. The third reason is to decouple the northern and southern fronts to isolate Hamas in Gaza.
“With Hezbollah out of the picture, Hamas is left alone in the campaign. Our pressure will increase”Netanyahu said.
After the message of Netanyahuthe Lebanese Prime Minister, Najib Mikaticalled on the international community to “act quickly” to “immediately implement” the ceasefire.
From October 8, 2023, Hezbollah It attacks Israeli communities and military posts along the border with Israel almost daily, which has responded with bombings. The Lebanese militia does it in support of Hamaswhich is at war in Loop against Israeli forces after attacking Israel on October 7, 2023.
two months ago, Israel and Hezbollah entered into an open warafter the Israelis detonated the beepers that the Shiite militia used to communicate. Furthermore, Israel killed the top commanders of Hezbollahincluding the top leader Hassan Nasrallahand began a ground operation in southern Lebanon and carried out bombings in Beirut and other cities.
The Israeli bombings in the Lebanon They have caused more than 3,500 deaths in the last year, as well as the displacement of 1.2 million people. In Israel, 78 people have been killed (47 of them civilians), while some 60,000 have been displaced by the exchange of fire with Hezbollah.
Benjamin Netanyahu said that after
after more than a year of fighting, “it is not the same Hezbollah. “We’ve set it back decades.”
Opinion…
The winner imposes the conditions
By Carlos Novoa Shuña
International analyst specialized in Middle East issues
It is evident that Hezbollah It has been cracked, almost annulled because they have left it practically without a dome. But it must also be said that Hezbollah It is a group that not only has an armed wing that participates in the attacks, but also has a relatively important political part in Lebanon, although it has recently lost strength, that cannot be ignored.
The agreement is, in theory, favorable for the Israelis. This should not be surprising, because it is part of what the victor of a war collects. And while it is true that there has not been a total offensive, Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah have been forceful.
Now the other issue involves Iran, which will supervise and will be aware of how to make this blow not so big for Hezbollah. Nobody wants to be seen as defeated, as a loser. So, that’s another factor to take into account.
The agreement also provides that Israel has the right to respond militarily if there is a violation of it. The pact also speaks of a demilitarized zone. It is clear that Israel does not want to have any type of restriction on its “right to defend itself” if they see or believe that there is something that is on the way to violating their security. In that case, they will respond immediately.
This agreement will serve the internal image of Netanyahu, who is once again in trouble in Israel, because he must begin to respond to justice for charges he had pending. He is going to show the pact as a great triumph over Hezbollah.
The keys to the three-stage agreement
The Israeli and American press advanced details of the agreement. In your first stagethis provides for a 60-day truce during which Hezbollah and the Israeli army will withdraw from the south of the Lebanon to allow Lebanese and UN troops to deploy to the area.
Specifically, Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a disarmament of southern Lebanon in an initial phase of 60 days, during which time the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw and the Lebanese militia will withdraw to the north of the Litani Rivercomplying with the withdrawal of armed personnel from the Blue Line stipulated in Resolution 1701 of the UN Security Councilestablished after the 2006 war.
One of the ultimate goals of the agreement is the safe return of the 60,000 residents of northern Israel.
In the area to be emptied, The Lebanese Army will deploy thousands of soldiers. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is the UN peacekeeping mission in the country, will participate in clearing the area.
According to the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, American troops under the command of the United States Central Command (Centcom) will supervise and coordinate relations between the Israeli and Lebanese armed forces during the first days of the agreement.
The Ynet portal reported that Lebanese soldiers and the FINUL will have the mission of “cleaning” the infrastructure of Hezbollah that the IDF did not destroy in the area between the Israeli border and the agreed line. At the end of the trial period, they will be in charge of enforcing the agreement and preventing Hezbollah entrench itself in the region again.
There will also be the presence of French troops in supervision work.
In addition, the Lebanese security forces, in cooperation with UNIFIL, will be responsible for arms control throughout Lebanese territory.
According to the agreement, The Lebanese army and the Beirut government will be the ones who will have to prevent smuggling and the production of weapons destined for Hezbollah.
The second stage provides for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
The EFE agency indicated that the agreement also contemplates the creation of an international organization, which will be headed by USAto supervise compliance with the ceasefire, in which the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and foreseeably an Arab country will also be involved.
As part of the agreement, Israel demands freedom to attack Lebanon again if the agreement is not fulfilled in three cases: the rearmament of Hezbollah, the preparation of an attack against Israeli territory or the return of the pro-Iran group’s militiamen to the south of the country.
According to the Israeli press, the IDF may attack if there is an immediate threat to Israelwhile in the rest of the cases the international committee will be responsible for determining what action to follow.
The third stage The agreement establishes negotiations between Israel and Lebanon on the demarcation of their border, which is currently a limit set by the UN after the 2006 war.
The EFE agency recalled that Israel has assured that it does not intend to establish a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah activists captured by the IDF during the ground operation in southern Lebanon would not be returned to Lebanon, the agreement states.
